Barack Obama's supporters insist that an ad from a conservative group attacking his ties to unrepentant 1970s radical William Ayers is irrelevant to the campaign. Cass Sunstein, a University of Chicago law professor and close friend of Mr. Obama, says that while he is "very disturbed by [Mr. Ayers'] past and by his refusal to disavow what the did . . . the implications of this for Obama are zero."

You wouldn't know that from the reaction of the Obama campaign. Yesterday, it took the extraordinary step of airing a response to the Ayers ad, which links Mr. Obama to the former Weather Underground organizer who took credit for a series of non-fatal bombings at the U.S. Capitol and Pentagon during the Vietnam War era. "With all our problems, why is John McCain talking about the 60s, trying to link Barack Obama to radical Bill Ayers?" the Obama ad asks. "McCain knows Obama denounced Ayers' crimes, committed when Obama was just 8 years old."

Obama lawyers have also sent a letter to the Justice Department demanding a criminal investigation of the American Issues Project, the conservative group behind the ad, for potentially violating campaign finance laws.

McCain aides say they are perplexed by the Obama ad. "It is misleading," McCain campaign strategist Steve Schmidt told National Review. "It states the McCain campaign is running an ad on the issue and it's not. Obama described Ayers as just a guy who lives in his neighborhood. We know that's not accurate."

Also unexplained is the sudden sensitivity on Team Obama's part. It's already known that Mr. Ayers, now a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, hosted a key fund-raising party during Mr. Obama's first bid for public office and also served with Mr. Obama on the board of a Chicago-based charity until 2002. Today, the University of Illinois will finally release documents it tried to keep from the public on the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, the liberal school reform effort founded by Mr. Ayers and chaired by Mr. Obama. Obama campaign aides insist the two men had only a casual relationship. During a Democratic primary debate last April, Mr. Obama said that "the notion that . . . me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8 years old, somehow reflects on me and my values doesn't make much sense."

We may know more about the relationship between the two men later this week, after reporters have plowed through the once-suppressed Annenberg Challenge records.

John Fund is an editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal and OpinionJournal.com

Comment: Reads like Obama is beginning to broach the surface of reality from his immersion within a cesspool-history with radicals.

This week at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, mixed among the politicians, news teams, delegates, fringe groups, operatives, and handlers, a new generation of veterans groups are in place, some trying to influence the outcome of the race between John McCain and Barack Obama, others simply looking to get their messages heard.

"We are here to make sure veterans issues are at the forefront of the national political dialog," said Army veteran Andrew Roberts, who works for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Association. "We're not for or against the war; we're not trying to get anybody elected. We're simply trying to take care of those veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan."

Roberts went on to explain that among IAVA's priorities are issues surrounding VA case backlogs and traumatic brain injury screening. "I know of a West Point grad who suffered through several IED attacks," he said. "And although he was never wounded, when we came back he was suffering from memory loss and losing the sense of smell, and when he went to the VA they told him, 'You got a concussion when you were playing football at West Point,' and they denied him his health care."

Veterans for Freedom has a slightly different focus around the election. After acting as "embeds" in recent weeks, reporting from the regions in which they served on active duty, the VFF reps are motivated to get their message heard, especially by Democrats.

"We're here to engage delegates and others to talk about what we saw and why we remain committed to victory in Iraq," said Pete Hegseth, VFF's director. "We recognize the success and gains that have been made not just militarily but politically. It's about sharing our perspective, which we believe is underrepresented here.

"Obama's mission is withdrawal, not victory," Hegseth continued. "McCain has made it very clear that he wants to make sure that the gains we've made are not squandered. Whereas Obama has said, 'I'm going to consult with the commanders but I'm pretty much set with 16 months and I'm going to bring the troops home.' "

VFF member and author David Bellavia offered another concern: "What bothers me when we talk about veterans on this side of the aisle, it's always about victimization. We can talk about PTSD or traumatic brain injuries without suggesting that these folks had nothing better to do with their lives. It's offensive."

Among Hegseth's impressions after the first couple of days of the convention was that the former Clinton supporters were an easier sell regarding the success of the war.

"I think there's a lot more common ground with the Clinton supporters … because she was tougher on national security issues," he said. He also seemed mildly pleased with Obama's choice for vice president, saying, "Biden, to his credit, has had a bit more responsible take on Iraq."

As the only veterans organization among those in Denver with an official campaign affiliation, Veterans for Obama has a mission that is clear cut: Help get Barack Obama into the White House by convincing the military audience that he's ready to be commander-in-chief.

"Some Republicans say [Obama] can't lead because he has not served a day in uniform," said former Marine Maura Sullivan, who served in Iraq and now attends grad school at Harvard. "One of [the Marine Corps'] principles is know your troops and look after their welfare. I think Barack Obama's service in the neighborhoods of Chicago translates perfectly to the service he would be able to give as commander-in-chief"

Another Veterans for Obama volunteer, Army vet Drew Sloan, added, "While it's true that Republicans tend to claim the support of the troops, there are many troops and veterans around the country who are ready for a change in leadership that looks out for them first.

"I think the biggest distinction [between the two candidates] is that Barack Obama respects the troops," Sloan continued. "He wants to give them a plan to win in the long term and not focus on continuing the policies that have failed to produce any lasting peace in Iraq or Afghanistan. We've had some success but we need a plan not just more of the same."

Marine vet Rye Barcott, also currently a grad student at Harvard, said the Veterans for Obama volunteers are not asking for anything in return for their work if their candidate does make it all the way to the White House.

"We're not doing this for ourselves. None of us want a job out of this," he said. "We're in this because we know this is the most important thing for the United States and our national security."

Comment: Former-military, Harvard students supporting Harvard Law graduate Obama (or whatever his name is) seems a bit disingenuous. Maybe the students would be more successful if they devoted their time to getting the VA senatorial leadership to act upon their concerns ... US Senator Akaka ... of Akaka Bill fame ... heads that committee. Perhaps, the students could distract him away from his zealous effort to keep his master, US Senator Inouye, out of prison long enough to spend a few moments administering his committee.

Pray that US Senator Obama (or whatever his name is) never becomes chairman of the US Senate's Committee on Veterans' Affairs. With his track record of chairing committees (one committee that has never met), the Vets would get nothing but empty oratory.

Thanks, Hawaii Reporter, for posting Jim Kouri’s piece “Obama confirms relationship with Marxist mentor” (8/16/08). I had not given much thought to the upcoming elections, but after reading Kouri’s article, I now know that, as a patriotic American, I can never vote for Obama.

Kouri cites Accuracy in Media (AIM) for divulging that, as a teenager, Obama hung out with Frank Marshall Davis, a poet, activist, and communist. The connection is crystal clear: Davis brainwashed young Obama and made him a communist. I wouldn’t be surprised if Obama works for Cuba or North Korea. No commie is getting my vote.

Checking the internet, I learned that AIM has a solid history of uncovering communists. AIM was dead-on when they labeled Walter Cronkite a commie operative, who “repeatedly passed on Soviet disinformation about U.S. defense policies”. And, bless its journalistic commitment to the truth, AIM had the courage to defend Joe McCarthy against smears that he ruined innocent people’s lives by falsely identifying them as Russian agents. McCarthy might have been a drunk, but he was gentle as a lamb.

To Jim Kouri and AIM, I’d like to pass along some “dirt” I have on Speaker-of-the-House Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi and I attended the same high school in San Francisco, and I distinctly remember, at the 11th grade Costume Ball, Pelosi came dressed as Leon Trotsky (complete with the cranial ice pick! Gross!). Not only that, Pelosi’s favorite hang-out spot was a little Cuban restaurant on Fillmore Street! If this doesn’t shout out “Rabid Commie!”, I don’t know what does.

Todd Shelly, a Hawaii Kai resident, can be reached at mailto:tshelly34@yahoo.com

FRANKLIN — A state representative who served as coordinator for U.S. Sen. Joe Biden's presidential campaign during the recent New Hampshire Primary remains jailed for violating a court order related to a forgery case.

Following a bail hearing Friday morning, James E. Ryan, 50, of Franklin was ordered held at the Carroll County Department of Corrections jail in Ossipee in lieu of $9,675 cash-only bail.

He was arrested Tuesday by Franklin police after they received notification from the Carroll County Sheriff's Department that Ryan was wanted on a warrant issued by Carroll County Superior Court for failure to pay restitution.

Ryan represents the city of Franklin in the state Legislature and is chair of the House Transportation Committee. He also is listed in Biden for President documents as the Senator's N.H. campaign chairman and senior adviser.

Ryan expected to attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver following Sen. Barack Obama's naming Sen. Biden as his vice-presidential running mate, but members of the New Hampshire delegation indicated he was not present this week for activities.

Records in Carroll County Superior Court show that Ryan originally had been found guilty on four felony counts of forgery. In 1992 he received concurrent 11⁄2- to 3-year sentences in state prison with both suspended.

In 1996 he was sentenced to two to four years for violating the terms of his probation by failing to pay $9,765 in restitution.

According to a records clerk at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men in Concord, Ryan — who then was living in Danbury — began serving his prison term on Aug. 8, 1997. He was paroled on April 6, 1998.

Meanwhile, in a separate bad check case in Hillsborough County, Ryan had pleaded guilty to two felony charges for passing bad checks there. Ryan was sentenced to serve two to four years on each charge, to be served concurrently.

The court deferred the imposition of each sentence for one year, pending the defendant's release from the Carroll County Department of Corrections jail on the earlier forgery sentence.

The state later filed a violation of probation report and a motion seeking to impose the previously deferred sentences on the grounds that Ryan had violated his probation.

Ryan moved to dismiss the probation violation proceeding, asserting that placing him on probation at the show cause hearing impermissibly augmented his original sentence.

Judge Robert Lynn denied the motion, ruling, in part, that the defendant could not challenge the validity of being placed on probation at that late date. Subsequently, a probation violation hearing was held. The court found that Ryan had violated the terms of his deferred sentencing order and his probation. The judge imposed the previously deferred concurrent sentences.

Ryan appealed the decision to the high court with attorney Albert Scherr of Concord, who represented Ryan on the appeal, arguing that the lower court did not have the authority to impose probation as a condition of a deferred sentence.

In December 1997, the New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld the imposition of a deferred two- to four-year sentence against Ryan, ruling the trial court was justified, as Ryan had violated the terms of both his deferred sentencing order and his probation.

On Sept. 11, 2006, Ryan signed an agreement stating he would pay the court-ordered restitution by May 2007. His arrest this week was for failing to follow through on that agreement.

During a bail hearing this morning in Carroll County Superior Court, Assistant County Attorney Susan Boone argued that Ryan should remain jailed for violating the court order.

The hearing was held by telephone with Judge Kenneth Brown of Strafford County, as there was a potential conflict with the judge sitting in Carroll County, a court spokesman confirmed.

Do-nothing Rep. Mazie Hirono's criticism of the McCain VP choice - "Palin brings the same out-of-touch conservative thinking of the past eight years ... nothing maverick about either one of them" -is hilarious (Star-Bulletin, Aug 30).

Hirono is clearly terrified: presumptive benefits from the carefully staged hoopla of the glitzy Democratic convention evaporated ... in a matter of hours.

Criticizing Palin's "lack of experience" invites risky comparison. This youthful Alaska hockey mom, moose hunter, lifetime NRA member, political reformer and intensely competitive woman - given the sobriquet "Barracuda Sarah" on her high school basketball team - has amassed more executive experience as an elected office holder than Senators Obama, Biden and McCain put together. And in one critical area - energy independence - she is an expert. Some are already calling Gov. Palin a female Teddy Roosevelt.

And she is not the top of the ticket.

By contrast, it is likely Barack Obama's foreign policy OJT, like that of JFK and Jimmy Carter, would be marked by hesitation, hand-wringing, humiliation, retreat and bloody defeat.

Thomas E. Stuart
Kapaau, Hawaii

Comment: In fairness to Maize, she may be the only sane and productive member of the Hawaii Congressional delegation. As for the Democratic Party Convention in Denver, Obama's circus-style leadership gets undressed by the selection of pro-active Palin as the Republic VP candidate.

Dems picked Obama for the wrong reasons
What a night! Only in America. Only in America could an alleged major political party nominate for the highest office someone so lamentably under qualified, solely on the basis of his race. Just how desperate can The Party That Could Not Beat Bush (Twice!) get? Silly question, isn't it?

Christopher G. Boucek
Honolulu

Comment: The word "desperate" emerges only after the selection of Palin as the Republican VP!

Why?

Palin does, daily, what two decades of elite Democratic leaders have professed. Obama typifies that "... lips flappin' in the breeze ..."agenda.

Even as Barack Obama gave his soaring speech Thursday night, his campaign was playing hardball with its critics.

Team Obama has launched an offensive against WGN, the Chicago Tribune's radio station, for interviewing Stanley Kurtz. Mr. Kurtz is a conservative writer who this week forced the University of Illinois to finally open its records on Sen. Obama's association with William Ayers, the unrepentant 1970s Weather Underground terrorist.

An Obama campaign email to supporters called Mr. Kurtz a "slimy character assassin" whose "divisive, destructive ranting" should be confronted. WGN producer Zack Christenson says the outpouring of negative calls and emails is "unprecedented." He also notes that it is curious -- because "we wanted the Obama campaign's take" on Mr. Kurtz's findings, but the campaign declined to put anyone on air.

Separately, Mr. Obama's lawyers have also demanded that the Justice Department prosecute an organization called the American Issues Project for running an ad about ties between their candidate and Mr. Ayers.

Obama aides believe John Kerry lost in 2004 because he failed to respond to the "Swift Boat" ads attacking him, and they are lashing out. Sometimes the Obama objections have merit, as when they exposed errors in Jerome Corsi's sensationalized Obama biography. But sometimes they are designed to shut down legitimate questions. "They're terrified of people poking around Obama's life," one reporter told Gabriel Sherman at the New Republic. "The whole Obama narrative is built around the narrative that Obama and [campaign strategist] David Axelrod built, and, like all stories, it's not entirely true." The stakes are high. If the full story of Mr. Obama's relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright had been revealed before the Iowa caucus, he wouldn't have won.

Aides claim Mr. Obama "has taken voluntary transparency steps" that allow "his constituents, the media and his political opponents to fully examine him." In reality, anyone questioning the approved story line is liable to be ignored, misled or even bullied. This isn't what reporters expected when Mr. Obama began campaigning for a "new politics" that would bring honesty and openness to government.

Walking the rows of media outlets at the Denver convention, I had no trouble finding reporters who complained the campaign was secretive and evasive. Ben Smith of Politico.com has written about Team Obama's "pattern of rarely volunteering information or documents, even when relatively innocuous." Politico asked months ago if Mr. Obama had ever written anything for the Harvard Law Review as a student. The Obama campaign responded narrowly, with a Clintonesque statement that "as the president of the Law Review, Obama didn't write articles, he edited and reviewed them." This month it turned out Mr. Obama had written an article -- but it was published a month before he became president.

Chasing the rest of Mr. Obama's paper trail is often an exercise in frustration. Mr. Obama says his state senate records "could have been thrown out" and he didn't keep a schedule in office. No one appears to have kept a copy of his application for the Illinois Bar. He has released only a single page of medical records, versus 1,000 pages for John McCain.

Then there's the house that Mr. Obama bought in 2005 in cooperation with Tony Rezko, his friend and campaign fund-raiser -- a move the candidate concedes was "boneheaded." Rezko was convicted in June of 16 counts of corruption. (Mr. Obama was not implicated in Rezko's crimes.)

Rezko's trial raised a host of questions. Was Mr. Obama able to save $300,000 on the asking price of his house because Rezko's wife paid full price for the adjoining lot? How did Mrs. Rezko make a $125,000 down payment and obtain a $500,000 mortgage when financial records shown at the Rezko trial indicate she had a salary of only $37,000 and assets of $35,000? Records show her husband also had few assets at the time.

Last April, the London Times revealed that Nadhmi Auchi, an Iraqi-born billionaire living in London, had loaned Mr. Rezko $3.5 million three weeks before the day the sale of the house and lot closed in June 2005. Mr. Auchi's office notes he was a business partner of Rezko but says he had "no involvement in or knowledge of" the property sale. But in April 2004 he did attend a dinner party in his honor at Rezko's Chicago home. Mr. Obama also attended, and according to one guest, toasted Mr. Auchi. Later that year, Mr. Auchi came under criminal investigation as part of a U.S. probe of the corrupt issuance of cell-phone licenses in Iraq.

In May 2004, the Pentagon's inspector general's office cited "significant and credible evidence" of involvement by Mr. Auchi's companies in the Oil for Food scandal, and in illicit smuggling of weapons to Saddam Hussein's regime. Because of the criminal probe, Mr. Auchi's travel visa to the U.S. was revoked in August 2004, even as Mr. Auchi denied all the allegations. According to prosecutors, in November 2005 Rezko was able to get two government officials from Illinois to appeal to the State Department to get the visa restored. Asked if anyone in his office was involved in such an appeal, Mr. Obama told the Chicago Sun-Times last March, "not that I know of." FOIA requests to the State Department for any documents haven't been responded to for months.

After long delays, Mr. Obama sat with the editorial boards of the Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune in March to answer their questions about his connection to Rezko. He had no recollection of ever meeting Mr. Auchi. He also said he didn't understand a lot about house buying, and gave vague answers to other questions. Since then, he has avoided any further discussion of the Rezko matter.

Some inquiries could be cleared up if the Obama campaign were forthcoming with key documents. Mr. Obama claims that in buying his house in 2005 he got a low mortgage rate from Northern Trust bank because another bank made a competitive bid for his business, but his campaign won't reveal from which bank. While he has released 94 pages of documents relating to the Rezko sale, they don't include the single most important one -- the settlement statement that shows the complete flow of funds that were part of the house sale. When asked why that last key document isn't being released, the Obama campaign issued a boilerplate statement saying, "we have released documents that reflect every one of the final terms of the senator's purchase of the home." But key data are still being withheld.

The Obama campaign didn't hesitate to criticize Hillary Clinton for not revealing the names of donors to the Clinton Library, or John McCain for releasing only two years of tax returns as opposed to Mr. Obama's 10 years. Those were proper questions. But so too are requests for information from Mr. Obama, a man whose sudden rise and incompletely reported past makes him among the least-vetted of presidential nominees.

Reporters who decline to press Mr. Obama for more information now, whether it be on William Ayers or the Rezko-Auchi partnership, may be repeating an old mistake. Most reporters failed to dig deep enough into the Nixon White House's handling of Watergate before the 1972 election. The country was soon consumed with that scandal. Most reporters pooh-poohed questionable Whitewater real-estate dealings of the Clintons before Bill Clinton's 1992 election. Within months of his inauguration a tangled controversy led to the appointment of a special prosecutor and an endless source of distraction for the Clinton White House.

All presidential candidates resist full examination of their records. But it should be the job of reporters not to accept noncooperation, stonewalling or intimidation when it comes to questions about fitness for the nation's highest office.

Mr. Fund is a columnist for WSJ.com

Comment: Obama's Southside Chicago connections will swamp his political agenda!

Chuck Canterbury, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, today announced the organization's endorsement of Senator John S. McCain III for the office of President.

"The FOP carefully considered the records and the responses of both candidates and, in our evaluation, Senator McCain will provide greater leadership for our country and for our nation's law enforcement officers," Canterbury said. "We will be proud to stand behind him this November, and to stand with him for the next four years."

For a candidate to receive the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police, he must receive a two-third majority of the National Board, which is made up of one Trustee from each of the organization's State Lodges.

"Our National Board, and the more than 327,000 members of the FOP, acquainted themselves with Senator McCain's record, and, after meeting with him face to face in July, he made it very clear that he is with us on the issues most important to our members," Canterbury said.

"Like our members, he sees issues through the eyes of someone that has been on the front lines. That is exactly the kind of perspective, and the kind of leadership, that we need in the White House."

Canterbury cited Senator McCain's strong support for the FOP's efforts to amend the Law Enforcement Officers' Safety Act and pledged to work with the organization in crafting our nation's law enforcement policy.

"Senator John McCain is a proven leader with a clear record of support for the men and women who put their lives on the line -- just as he did -- to defend our communities and our nation," Canterbury said.

"I am proud to offer the Senator our endorsement today and I look forward to working with the McCain Administration over the next four years," he concluded.

The Fraternal Order of Police is the largest law enforcement labor organization in the United States, with more than 327,000 members.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com. Kouri's own website is located at http://jimkouri.us

“But you know … you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig. You know, you can … wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change, it’s still going to stink after eight years.”

The colorful cosmetic has become a political buzzword, thanks to Republican vice presidential nominee Palin’s joke in her acceptance speech that lipstick is the only thing that separates a hockey mom like her from a pit bull.

McCain’s campaign called Obama’s comments “offensive and disgraceful” and said he owes Palin an apology.

Obama’s campaign said the “lipstick on a pig” expression — commonly said in Washington D.C. — wasn’t referring to Palin and said GOP outrage is “a pathetic attempt to play the gender card.” The campaign also noted that McCain once used the same phrase to describe Hillary Rodham Clinton’s health care plan.

But McCain supporter Jane Swift, former Republican governor of Massachusetts, said the line was clearly directed at the Alaska governor.

She said, “This is just the latest in a series of comments that many folks like me will find offensive.”

The Obama campaign swiftly circulated a 2007 article that quoted McCain using the term “lipstick on a pig” to refer to a health care proposal from Hillary Clinton.

A questioner at the Virginia event also asked Obama to join Republicans and agree that candidates’ families and religion are off limits. Palin’s pregnant teenage daughter and the teachings of her church, the nondenominational Wasilla Bible Church, have been the subject of scrutiny since McCain picked her as his running mate.

Obama responded that he already has said families are off limits and he’s very protective of his daughters, 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha. He said he doesn’t want their inevitable future mistakes to become newspaper fodder if he gets to the White House.

He stressed that he’s a Christian and “so the fact that Governor Palin is deeply religious, that’s a good thing.” He said poking around in her religion or saying it’s wrong is “offensive” and he wants to have a debate about the issues.

“But don’t give people some sort of religious litmus test because I don’t want somebody to question my faith and I’m certainly not going to question somebody else’s,” he said.

Comment: We must remember that Obama (or whatever his name is) is an Affirmative Action graduate from Harvard Law School. We cannot expect Harvard Law School to invest time & money in teaching this South Chicago hustler table manners. Besides, Obama might have been referring to one of his daughters ... if so, do they become pigs before or after he fits them for Cuban cigars?

If I was Obama (or whatever his name is), I'd don lipstick for the rest of my presidential campaign!

The Florida Federation of Republican Women has launched a boycott against Oprah Winfrey’s TV show and magazine because the talk queen has said she will not have Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on her show until after the election.

Democrat Barack Obama — whom Winfrey is supporting for president — was on “Oprah” twice before he announced his run for president, in January 2005 and in October 2006. Winfrey has said she will have neither party’s candidates on her show while they are running for their respective offices.

But the 58-year-old federation, which has 4,500 members, says Winfrey should have Palin on her show now, given how important the Alaska governor’s run is for women.

“She is an icon, and set her herself up to be such a women’s rights and women’s issues person. To have the first vice president of our lifetime on the Republican ticket being a woman and to sit it out regardless of what her personal political beliefs were was disingenuous, we felt,” the group’s First Vice President Cindy Graves told “FOX & Friends” on Wednesday morning.

Graves, 50, says she used to watch “Oprah” and occasionally bought her magazine. She told FOXNews.com that the group has been joined by women all over the country since launching the boycott last Saturday.

“People from Southern California, Tennessee, Texas, Colorado, Rhode Island, just about every state in the union. We’ve also had a tremendous response from Democrats and Independents who are supporting McCain, and Hillary supporters,” she said.

Asked whether the boycott is affecting Oprah’s TV ratings and magazine subscriptions, Graves said Winfrey is “keeping that quiet.”

A spokeswoman for Oprah’s company, Harpo Productions, said Harpo would have no comment on the boycott, and said Harpo is not at liberty to give out ratings information for “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” which is syndicated by CBS Paramount Television, or subscription information for O, The Oprah Magazine, which is owned by Hearst.

Winfrey reacted strongly on Friday to a report posted on the Drudge Report that she and “a couple of her top people are adamantly” against booking Palin on her show.

“The item in today’s Drudge Report is categorically untrue,” Winfrey said in a statement sent to news organizations in reaction to the Drudge Report’s posting. “There has been absolutely no discussion about having Sarah Palin on my show. At the beginning of this presidential campaign when I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates. I agree that Sarah Palin would be a fantastic interview, and I would love to have her on after the campaign is over.”

Before Obama became a candidate, Winfrey used her show to introduce him to America’s women voters, and she has endorsed and campaigned with the Democratic nominee. She also was very visible at Obama’s nomination acceptance speech in Denver last month.

Winfrey and her executive producer, Sheri Salata, both donated the maximum $2,300 contribution to Obama’s campaign during the primary season.

According to the Drudge Report, Winfrey’s staff is sharply divided on booking Palin.

“Half of her staff really wants Sarah Palin on,” an unidentified source told Drudge. “Oprah’s Web site is getting tons of requests to put her on, but Oprah and a couple of her top people are adamantly against it because of Obama.”

Comment: Apparently, Sarah Palin is not politically-correct enough for Oprah ... or the rest of the federal handout slobs of America. I guess the color of your lipstick does matter when you approach the trough.

Here's a tale of two elections. In the first election, an aged, experienced politician with a long, accomplished record and a reputation of good character ran for office. His challenger was a much younger man who spoke idealistically and charismatically. He spoke of change and new vigor in the office. He alluded that the old guy was maybe too old and should retire. In response, the Hawaii Democratic Party said, "No, the people of Hawaii must vote for experience, good character and the long, good record of the old fellow. Change isn't necessary! Re-elect the old fellow!"

In the second election, another aged, experienced politician with a long, accomplished record, and a reputation of good character is also running for office. His challenger, as in the first election, is a much younger man who speaks idealistically and charismatically. He speaks of change, new vigor and alludes that the old guy, if voted in, might not live through his term. In response, the Hawaii Democratic Party says, "Yes, the people of Hawaii should vote for the young guy! Experience isn't important! Vote for change! Vote for the young fellow!"

Who are the people involved? In the first, Daniel Akaka and Ed Case. In the latter, John McCain and Barack Obama.

With partisan politics, I sometimes feel they are trying to convince me up is down, when all the while, I know up is up. I'm tired of being manipulated with each election. This year, party politics is being brushed aside, and I'm voting with "Country First" in mind.

Mark Stephens
Aiea

Comment: The rule for the faithful: vote the way US Senator Inouye tells you to vote ... or else!

It seems everyone is complaining about the negative nature of John McCain's TV ads, which have skewered Barack Obama on everything from childhood sex education to treating Sarah Palin with "disrespect."

I myself have a complaint. Since last week, the McCain campaign has distorted a Diary item I wrote saying Democrats had "airdropped" a team of researchers and lawyers into Alaska to look into Mrs. Palin's background and record. The McCain ad claimed I wrote that the Obama campaign had sent a team in to "dig dirt" on the GOP vice presidential nominee. That was a distortion since my item was a light-hearted observation, not a condemnation. I believe opposition research is an understandable and necessary component of campaigns. The Obama campaign has denied sending any opposition researchers and I should have identified the Democrats in Alaska as coming from law firms, labor unions and liberal advocacy groups.

Even so, the McCain media onslaught falls short of the Obama campaign's own effort against the Arizona senator. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin report that 77% of Mr. Obama's commercials were negative last week, compared to 56% of the McCain spots. "It suggests that the Sarah Palin pick and the newfound aggressiveness by McCain got into Obama's head a little bit," researcher Ken Goldstein told the Washington Post. "He was under great pressure to show some spine, be aggressive, fire back."

Among the new Obama commercials is a controversial Spanish-language ad airing in several states that attempts to link Mr. McCain to radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh. The ad, called "Two Faces," claims Mr. Limbaugh demeaned Mexican immigrants by calling them "stupid and unskilled" and said U.S. immigration policy should be: "Shut your mouth or get out."

ABC News examined the ad and found real factual problems. Mr. Limbaugh was taken out of context. In 1993, he discussed the NAFTA trade agreement by saying that stupid and unskilled Americans had little to fear because the pact's provisions would mean that more jobs in Mexico would be created for "stupid and unskilled" Mexicans. A tactless formulation to be sure but not what Team Obama implies. Similarly, Mr. Limbaugh read a humorous list of "immigration rules" that included the "shut your mouth" phrase, then revealed that the rules were actual Mexican policy towards illegal aliens crossing Mexico's own borders.

Of course, the biggest stretch in the Obama ad is a simple one. Mr. Limbaugh is on record as a vociferous opponent of Mr. McCain's immigration approach and has been a vocal critic of the Arizona senator for years. To imply the two are running on the same immigration platform would be akin to suggesting that Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright see eye to eye on the role of America in the world.

John Fund is an editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal

Comment: Lying is the prime cultural trait of the Democratic Party. What else does the know-nothing, do-nothing senator from Illinois have to offer?

America doesn't need another Jimmy Carter
I grew up in the '70s and wanted "CHANGE" from the Nixon/Ford administration. I had just turned 19 in '76 and jumped on the bandwagon of "CHANGE" and decided that I, along with all the other young and naive people, were going to make a difference and with our participation, got Jimmy Carter elected.

Once we did, I realized that his policies led to a rapid rate of inflation, much higher gas prices and sky-high interest rates. I got my first car loan in 1978 and paid 12.5 percent interest. His tax increases on the "rich" led to higher prices. The $200 he saved me through "tax breaks" cost me an extra $500 or more per year in inflation. Some change! An increase in capital gains taxes, raising taxes on "big business" and environmental restriction costs were passed on to regular people like me, people these changes were supposed to help.

Barack Obama wants to implement these same laws and restrictions that failed in the past. How naive can one be to think that these policies would work now? In these rough economic times, we cannot afford Barack Obama. Even if he is from Hawaii.

Comment: We all remember the Peanut Farmer For Change! The only real change we got was Billy Beer! Obama (or whatever his name is) will be worse!

Earlier this week, the National Rifle Association-PVF released a series of radio and television spots to educate gun owners and sportsmen about Barack Obama's longstanding anti-gun record. In response to the NRA-PVF ads, a clearly panicked Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) are doing everything they can to hide Obama's real record by mounting a coordinated assault on the First Amendment.

They have gone to desperate and outrageous lengths to try to silence your NRA by bullying media outlets with threats of lawsuits if they run NRA-PVF's ads. They have sent intimidating cease and desist letters to cable operators and television stations, threatening their FCC licenses if they run the ads.

Obama and the DNC have been using strong-arm tactics reminiscent of Chicago machine politics to try and cover up the truth and silence NRA by forcing the stations to assist them in hiding Obama's radical anti-gun record.

And now, Obama and the DNC have opened a new front in their assault on your First Amendment rights by calling on their followers to contact these station managers to demand that the stations not run NRA-PVF's ads.

NRA stands behind the accuracy of these ads, and NRA attorneys have responded to the Obama campaign's despicable and abusive attempt to trample on the First Amendment by sending a thorough rebuttal to station managers. This rebuttal clearly and conclusively refutes the Obama campaign's fallacious claims that the ads are inaccurate. For more information, and to see the letter, please click here.

To learn the truth about Barack Obama's anti-gun record, please visit http://www.GunBanObama.com This website is loaded with features and information that you, as a gun owner, need to know. This is a must-see website that you will want to pass along to anyone you know who loves freedom and supports the Second Amendment. While you're there, don't forget to take the "OMatch," compatibility quiz to see if you and Barack are a match.

Comment: Apparently, if you do not agree with Obama & his friends' activcities, then they play the race card. American, after Obama, will constitute on racial engagement after another. Freedom of Speech, except racism, will be suppressed.

I am under 45 years old, I love the outdoors, I hunt,
I am a Republican reformer, I have taken on the Republican
Party establishment, I have many children, I have a spot on the national ticket as vice president with less than two years in the governor's office.